


unexpected partnerships

by xcipher



Category: untagged - Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-04-29 23:41:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14483772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xcipher/pseuds/xcipher
Summary: why am i so shit at titles idk





	unexpected partnerships

            Idal’ia scowled as her boot squelched in something unidentifiable; whatever it was, it was smelly, almost certainly toxic, and she could swear it glowed a little bit. As far as nasty swamps go, Hutta had by far the nastiest. She already couldn’t wait to get off this horrible planet. Taking up whatever odd jobs she could to build up some clout for a slimy Hutt wasn’t exactly what she was hoping for on her journey to the Great Hunt, but she knew she couldn’t afford to be picky. All that mattered to her was eventually getting there—and avenging those who had sacrificed everything for her in the process.

            She had taken up another bounty with Nem’ro and had set off on the hunt when she passed by an exceptionally sad-looking work camp, occupied by the unfortunate natives who had found themselves enslaved under Hutt rule. One of the natives—the Evocii, they were called—caught her attention with his pleas for someone to save his people from some “Black Death.” It seemed easy enough for her to handle, and she was rather looking forward to messing up some sicko who hunted innocent people for sport. The hard part would just be finding him.

            Idal’ia trudged through the swamp, keen hunter’s eyes peeled for any signs of the man. A pattern of tracks caught her notice; clearly made by droids, the predictable and repeated nature of the tracks suggested they were patrolling the area. She couldn’t have been far now.

            Sure enough, she came upon a small clearing in the swamp, where a small personal shuttle was parked on what little solid ground could be found. No sign of life anywhere nearby, but three droids were stationed outside the shuttle. They hadn’t detected her yet.

            Whipping out her blasters, Idali’a dispatched one before the other two could even spring into life. The remaining droids only had a chance to fire off one rather poorly aimed shot each before she silenced them, too. She kicked one over as she approached the shuttle, its useless body clanking rather pathetically as she did so.

            _Some security this chump has,_ she thought to herself, banging loudly on the hull of the shuttle with the grip of one of her blasters. It echoed hollowly, evidently empty.

            “Guess nobody’s home,” she mused aloud. Before she got the chance to decide whether to wait it out or track the man down, something pricked at her senses. She whirled around, blasters at the ready, only to come nearly face-to-face with another droid. A shot rang out through the swamps, sharp and piercing, and the droid slumped forward, a hole burned through the back of its head. Idal’ia stood frozen in surprise—she hadn’t fired a single shot at all.

            Quickly, her eyes scanned the trees for movement, blasters still held out ready before her. Movement did indeed catch her eye.

            A figure rose up from the hilltop at the edge of the clearing, pausing briefly before descending towards Idal’ia. She could hardly believe her eyes.

_Another Togruta? All the way out here in Hutt space?_

            The stranger approached her coolly, shouldering the sniper rifle she held, giving Idal’ia a quick once-over. Her pale silver-blue skin looked so out of place in the putrid yellow-green of Hutta, foreign and intriguing.

            “A bounty hunter. Here for the so-called ‘Black Death,’ I assume.”

            Idal’ia narrowed her eyes ever so slightly at the stranger. She couldn’t place the accent—in fact, there was hardly any accent at all. This only intrigued her further. She got the distinct feeling that there was more to this stranger than she seemed—and Idal’ia’s instincts were never wrong.

            “That’s right. You on the job, too?”

            “You could say that.” The stranger still hadn’t taken her eyes off Idal’ia. Not that she minded. “I’m not here to steal your kill—or your pay. I’ve got some business to tie up out here… and I don’t leave loose ends.”

            Idal’ia didn’t have much time to wonder what she meant by that before a rather portly man emerged from the treeline. He took one glance at the trashed droids and began spluttering irately.

            “What is the meaning of this? Who do you think you are, blasting my droids?” he demanded.

            “Ah, the ‘Black Death.’ We’ve been waiting for you.” The stranger flashed a dangerous smile, one that was anything but friendly and inviting.

            “Black Death? What are you on about? What do you want?” His face was practically turning purple with indignation.

            “Nothing personal—just your head.” Idal’ia drew a blaster and fired off a clean shot to his chest with one fluid movement, her weapon back in its holster before his body hit the ground. The stranger stared down her nose at the corpse in contempt.

            “That’s that taken care of.” She turned to leave, but not before giving Idal’ia one last lingering glance. “I have other matters to attend to, but maybe I’ll see you around. Watch your back out here.” She started off, heading deeper into the swamps.

            Idal’ia watched her retreating figure for a moment before calling out to her.

            “Hey. You got a name?”

            The stranger stopped, pausing a split second before turning around.

            “Around here, I’m just known as the Blade. The Red Blade.” She spoke slowly, as if she wasn't quite sure what she should say. And with that, she disappeared into the trees.

            Idal’ia didn’t move from her spot for quite some time. There was just something about this mysterious woman that she felt inexplicably drawn to, and part of her knew that she wouldn’t be able to rest until she found out more. She shook herself free of her reverie and set off back towards what was supposed to pass for civilization on this disgusting planet.


End file.
